A Trip to Remember
by MusicalMess
Summary: Chihayafuru fanfic! Chihaya x Taichi! After many days of hassling, Taichi finally agrees to go on a bit of a holiday with Chihaya (because he's hopelessly in love with her) to Fukui to visit their friend Arata. Taichi hopes for a nice holiday with Chihaya and Arata but then love starts getting in the way of the trios friendship. Maybe the trip wasn't such a good idea after all.
1. Breathing in Sync

"Taichi!" shouted Chihaya, her arms flailing about above her head from her bench at the train station "over here!"

I smiled a little and quickened my pace, my suitcase bumping along behind me.

Chihaya and I had decided to take a vacation during the summer break to Fukui to visit Arata. At first I really wasn't into it but she'd begged me for about five days straight and how could I say no to Chihaya? Eventually I gave in, but it was worth it. Her face when I finally agreed was to die for. She was over the moon happy.

Which also makes me happy.

"Hey," I say as I take a seat next to her.

Chihaya frowned down at my suitcase "Is that all you're taking?" she asked.

"Not even a proper greeting? Where are your manners Chihaya?" I scolded playfully "and yes, we're only gone for one and a half weeks and it's a fairly big suitcase."

"Oh sorry. Hi Taichi," she looked up at me and gave a meek smile. My heart skipped a beat.

You see I am hopelessly in love with Chihaya and she has no idea. She is quite oblivious about everything actually. People at school call her 'Beauty in Vain.'

I had a bit of a crush on her in the sixth grade but when we reunited in our first year of high school, I fell for her hard. She was extremely beautiful, with her long light brown hair and soft dark eyes. She was taller than me only by a few centimetres, she always has been but she never lets me forget it. Everything about her was perfect, plus she was an excellent Karuta player.

The other Karuta Club members haven't joined us on our trip because they aren't as well acquainted with Arata as Chihaya and I. They see him as more of a rival than as a friend. I'm not complaining though, I get two weeks away with Chihaya.

Oh, and Arata.

"I am so excited about this trip!" squealed Chihaya interrupting my thoughts "it's been so long since my last holiday!"

I smiled at her "It's gonna be great." I promised her.

"I know! I can't wait to see Arata again. I haven't seen him since…" she paused for a moment "since the individual tournament last year."

I felt something wrench at my heart. Even though Arata and I are mates I can't help but have this jealously toward him. He always has Chihaya's attention. She's always talking about him and his Karuta. It was like that when we were kids too. Back then I was extremely jealous of all the attention she gave him and was a total jerk to him. I stole his glasses and pushed him over the whole time. I was kind of jealous of his Karuta too. He has always been so good at it and I could never beat him, I still can't.

She was so into searching for him when I showed up to get our little Karuta group back together. Sometimes I wonder if it had been Arata to turn up at her school, if Chihaya would of even bothered to come search for me.

I pushed that thought aside for now and looked at my watch, 9:50a.m. Our train should arrive in ten minutes.

"Have you been practising Karuta much lately?" I asked her to pass the time.

"Of course," her reply was quick and unhesitant "every day. Twice some days."

The conversation seemed to stop there.

We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Hey Taichi," Chihaya said quietly.

"Mm?"

"Do you still have a girlfriend?" she asked her voice barely audible.

I was taken aback by her sudden question, but remained cool, calm and collected on the outside.

"Nah. I broke up with the one that called me Ta-kun remember? You were there."

"Yeah, I know. I just thought maybe you might have a new one, I've heard you're quite popular with the ladies." Then she laughed "I can't see how though." And nudged me with her shoulder.

I grin at her "Oh really? I think you'll find that I'm actually drop-dead gorgeous."

Chihaya burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oh come on now. I'm not the only one who's popular, 'Beauty in Vain'" I said teasingly.

"Oh gosh, don't call me that," she said still laughing "I don't even know what it means!"

I rolled my eyes "Typical, of course you don't. You're the 'Beauty in Vain'"

"Taichi!" she giggled "Stop it already."

"Ok ok." I laughed.

I loved talking to Chihaya. It was so easy and so much fun too, but conversations like this one were my favourite. I guess because it gave me a chance to…I don't know, flirt with her? Charm her? I'm not sure but it's good fun. It also gets my heart racing at a million miles per hour.

"Why'd you ask anyway?" I said curiously

Chihaya looked down quickly "Oh I don't know," she stuttered "I was just wondering that's all."

Her beautiful hair was covering most of her face but I thought I could see light tinges of red on her pale cheeks.

Nah, I was probably just imagining it.

She looked back up at me with some regained dignity; in fact I don't even know why she was all flustered "After all, you are my best friend." She pointed out.

"Yes, I know I know." I said reassuring and patted her head. It's a habit of mine, I've always done it to her to calm her down or comfort her.

Just then our train pulled up at the platform with a screech.

Chihaya jumped up and literally skipped to the train. She turned the heads of some guys walking past, but she didn't notice at all.

To them she was just a beauty in vain.

To me she was a beauty.

I picked up my luggage and followed her towards to trains door.

I got in and looked around for Chihaya and found her sitting in a corner saving a seat for me. I made my way over and took a seat.

Chihaya had a mad grin plastered to her face. I couldn't help but smile too.

The trains whistle blew and we were off.

"Alright!" she said enthusiastically "Arata here we come!"

I joined her in her little celebration "Fukui here we come!" I cheered.

We got a few disapproving looks for strangers but I didn't care.

About a half an hour later Chihaya had fallen asleep, her head resting against my shoulder. She usually falls asleep on train rides and sleeps on my shoulder. I actually liked it, it was sort of nice.

_Best friend huh?_ I thought, _maybe someday I'll get to be more than that to her._

With that thought in mind, I matched my breathing with hers and eventually dozed off.


	2. Runaway Thoughts

**OHAI IT'S ME AGAIN! I don't think I properly introduced myself last time. I am MusicalMess and I am here to write you a (hopefully) great story! Chihayafuru is one of my all-time favourite animes but unfortunately it isn't that popular. This is my very first fanfiction and boy am I excited!**

"-ake up already,"

…

"Taichi?"

_What?_

"Taichi!"

My eyes snapped and I looked around sluggishly. My eyes landed on Chihaya's face; fairly close to mine might I add. Her flawless, beautiful-

"Seriously Taichi, you're such a heavy sleeper," moaned Chihaya. A sly smile slowly spread across her face "by the way, you drool when you sleep." She broke out in a grin.

I felt my face burn red "I do not," I said defensively wiping the drool off my chin quickly.

"Do so," Chihaya giggled "anyway, we're nearly at our stop. About five minutes away in fact."

I nodded and looked out the window. The scenery was quite beautiful. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom this time of year, their branches swayed gently in the breeze and their pink blossoms as radiant as ever. I watched a few birds gracefully fly alongside the train chirping and flapping their wings happily. It was the perfect scene; it almost didn't seem real. Maybe it wasn't, I was extremely tired after all.

"Next stop; Fukui," said a somewhat robotic voice over the loud speaker that reeled me back into reality.

My tummy did a little somersault and I felt strangely nervous for some odd reason. I don't know why I feel like this. Was I afraid of seeing Arata again? Was it because I knew how excited Chihaya was to see him? Or maybe it was a feeling of jealousy again, the jealousy that I could never be better than him. I shook my head. _Don't be stupid, _I told myself _he's your friend. What am I thinking?_

Our train pulled up at the Fukui station shortly and we made our way out. I checked my watch, 4:04p.m. it read. We told Arata we'd arrive at his place around 5:00p.m., so far we're on schedule.

Good.

The afternoon air was refreshing after sitting on a train for so long.

"Taichi I got us a cab," called Chihaya clearly in a state of glee "let's go already."

"Yeah," I said uncertainly turning around to face her.

"Are you okay?" she asked

"Hm? Yeah, yeah fine," I said casually.

"Alright," she said, though she didn't seem convinced.

Hence what I'd told Chihaya I just couldn't get that anxious feeling out of my stomach. Man, it was irritating.

We stood outside Arata's house and the butterflies in my tummy had become gigantic moths. Chihaya on the other hand couldn't contain her smile even if she tried. She reached for the doorbell-

DING DONG

…

…

-after what felt like forever I heard shuffling coming from inside. This is it. Why am I being such an idiot pull yourself together for God sakes.

The door opened with a creak.

And there stood Arata.

He hadn't changed much at all. He still had his signature glasses, short black hair and as tall as ever. Chihaya immediately launched herself onto him. They fell to the ground, Chihaya on top of him with her arms wrapped around his neck. It made me feel slightly uncomfortable, especially since I could see defiant shades of red on Arata's face.

Chihaya looked at him and said "I've missed you!"

"Me too," smiled Arata trying to get up with Chihaya still on him. Eventually Chihaya untangled herself from him and they both stood up.

"It's good to see you again Taichi," Arata grinned at me.

Why had I been so nervous? I mentally kicked myself. This was my buddy Arata; he's a good person and one of my best friends.

"You too," I grinned back and clapped his back.

"Arata!" Chihaya said with intensity written all over her face "let's play Karuta!"

"Honestly Chihaya don't you ever get sick of it? We play it a million times back at home," I said playfully

"No, because when I'm here I actually get a challenge," she said smugly.

"But you still lose and then get upset."

"Shut up, I do not."

"You do so."

"Sleep drooler."

"Karuta loser."

"Says you." She says and gives me a round-house kick. Naturally I fight back but not too hard of course. We end up in a mess on the floor breathing heavily. I feel myself go red as we stare into each other's eyes. I quickly get up and brush myself off. Chihaya does the same.

Arata gave a friendly sigh and tilted his head "You guys are fired up already? Why don't we wait until after dinner?"

Chihaya pursed her lips clearly not happy, but reluctantly agreed. We stood silently for a moment a mildly awkward air hanging above us. But it was good to have everyone back together. I had missed Arata. He's the only guy I can really talk to about, well you know, guy stuff. Nishida and Komano are great don't get me wrong but all they really care about are Kana-chans breasts. Typical boys. It was Arata who finally spoke up.

"I'll give you a tour of the house then."

"Great." Chihaya and I chorused.

After our little tour Arata showed us to our rooms, Chihaya had a separate room to herself while Arata and I shared one. While we unpacked Arata made dinner.

During dinner I asked "Where are your parents Arata?"

"Oh," he said looking up "they're also on a holiday. They're in Australia actually."

"Australia?!" exclaimed Chihaya "how come you didn't go with them?"

"Two reasons for that," he said "one, we didn't have the money and two, I heard you guys were coming down and I wanted to stay to see you."

"I see," said Chihaya "so you have do to everything yourself around here then?"

Arata nodded.

"Wow," she said in admiration. Another pang of jealousy hit me.

Chihaya quickly finished the rest of her food "Let's play now Arata!" she said eagerly.

"No one should be able to eat that fast." I murmured loud enough so that she'd hear me.

Chihaya gave me her best death glare.

Arata laughed "Ok, let's play."

Chihaya bounded into the next room to set up the cards. I gave Arata a small smile "She's gonna be like this for the whole trip." I told him.

"I know," he sighed "but it's who she is and that's why we love her."

I laughed as if nothing were wrong, but what did he mean by that? _That's why we love her? _He couldn't…no, he was probably just saying it in a friendly way. Yeah that's it. He didn't mean anything serious like that. Did he?

"Would you mind doing the reading for us?" Arata asked.

"Yeah sure," I say giving him a strained smile.

"OK!" yelled Chihaya as we entered "I'm so winning this match!"

"We'll see about that," Arata said mischievously " I show no mercy."

*after the match*

"I can't believe I lost," groaned Chihaya for the fifth time "why can't you just let me win for once?"

"Then how will-?" said Arata but before he could finish his sentence Chihaya had fallen asleep.

Arata gave a light laugh "She never changes does she?"

"No she doesn't," I said staring down affectionately at the peaceful Chihaya. I looked at Arata who was also staring down at her. I frowned unsure what to make of it.

"We should take her to her room, it's getting kind of late anyway," Arata finally says.

"You're right, let's go," I said. Together we pick up Chihaya and gently carry her into her room and place her on her bed. She muttered something that kind of sounded like 'faster, quicker.'

I knelt down beside her bed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Goodnight stupid," I said softly.

"Drooler…" she murmured tiredly but kept her eyes shut.

"There's a shower just down the hall if you want to have one before bed," Arata suggested while he made his way out of the room.

"Yeah I think I will thanks." I said. I took one more glance at Chihaya before I hurried down the hallway.

The shower didn't help clear my mind as I'd hoped it would. Maybe I was overthinking it all, I thought as I dried my hair with a towel. Still I didn't know what to think about Arata and Chihaya. Does Arata like her? Does Chihaya like him? Is the feeling mutual? Is there any feeling? What if, I thought horrified, what if they have been having a secret relationship? That thought tore my heart open. It was selfish of me to say that I don't want them together. I have no right whatsoever. It was stupid for me to even think that they would go behind my back and have an affair. They'd tell me. I know they would. They'd have no reason to hide it from me…but why is Chihaya always so happy to see him?! Ugh, this is all eating away at me. Maybe I should just ask Arata, he'd tell me the truth and I'd be able to tell if he's lying. Yes, I think I'll do just that.

With my mission in mind I headed back to our room.

When I got there I didn't know how to ask him so I ended up climbing into my bed staring at the ceiling uselessly. I don't know why it's so hard to talk to him lately, is it because we haven't seen each other in a while? Then I heard his voice from the other side of the room.

"Taichi, are you and Chihaya dating?" he said.

That caught me off guard.

"No, we're just friends. Why would you think that?" I asked.

"It just seems like you two are really close that's all."

"Well we are pretty close; she doesn't really have many other friends at school so she said it was a relief when I showed up." I said with a hint of pride in my voice. "They all call her 'Beauty in Vain'"

Arata laughed at that. "That's all, just friends?" he said again.

"Yep and that's all it'll ever be." I said the sadness evident in my tone which didn't go unnoticed by Arata.

"And you're okay with that?"

"Of course." I lied

**Okie so tell me what you think of the story so far. Please review it and all that good stuff. I would looooooove to hear your feedback; any feedback that I can get would be absolutely wonderful and really helpful! Also tell me what you thought about the way the three communicated in this chapter, like Taichi and Chihaya's bickering. I'm unsure whether you guys like that? Anyway love ya!**


	3. Late Night Struggles

**Hello! Did ya miss me? Okie so here's the third chapter, it's a little longer than the others I think…Idk. Anyway enjoy! :***

For the next couple of days we didn't leave the house really, we went for a walk once down to the convince store to help Arata shop for lunch and dinner groceries. We spent most of those two days catching up with each other, exchanging stories and laughing, just having a good time. We had so much to share, so much to talk about the lists were endless. It felt like the old days, but even better.

That afternoon Chihaya and Arata were having a very deep informative chat about, you guessed it; Karuta. While I was spread across the couch with my earbuds in trying to take a late afternoon nap.

_I'm out of touch, I'm out of love_

_I'll pick you up when you're getting down_

_And out of all these things I've done I think I love you bet-_

My earbuds were yanked violently out of my ears. I shot up rubbing my aching ears.

"What the hell are you doing?" I said irritated staring daggers at the culprit; Chihaya.

"We were talking to you, you were being rude," she stated plainly.

"If you're going to take off my earbuds I would appreciate it if you didn't rip off my ears in the process." I glared at her.

She stuck her tongue out at me being the incredibly childish human being she is. Before we could break out in a wrestling match Arata said

"I was just asking what class you were in Taichi,"

"Oh that," I said, I put my hands behind my head and flopped back onto the sofa "I finally made it to Class A with Chihaya and Nishida."

Arata nodded "Impressive"

"I know" I grinned not doing very well in hiding my joy.

In that instant I heard a phone buzz. I knew that ringtone as Chihaya's.

"Chihaya your phone," I said reminded her.

"Hm? Oh yeah, right," she laughed lightly picking up the mobile. I gave her a sidelong look and sighed, did she seriously not know what her phone sounded like?

"Hello?" she answered "…what?" she finally said her voice tiny. She saw our concerned expressions and gave us a reassuring smile before leaving the room.

Arata frowned "I wonder what that could be."

"Yeah," I said thoughtfully, stuffing my earbuds back in their rightful positions.

_And it's dark and cold in December, but I've got you to keep me warm_

_If you're broken I will mend you and I'll keep you sheltered from the storm that's raging on now_

Chihaya entered the room again phone in hand looking confused and disorientated.

"Chihaya? You okay?" I asked hiding the worry in my voice.

Her glassy eyes searched the room for the person responsible for the question. When her eyes landed on me I saw the clouded look lift from her eyes and she put on her best fake smile "Yeah I'm...fantastic!" she said enthusiastically, too enthusiastically actually. I knew there was something wrong behind that smile of hers.

"Thank goodness for that," said Arata smiling kindly.

My jaw dropped, he didn't honestly fall for Chihaya's obviously fake answer did he? Then again, I thought, he didn't know Chihaya as well as I did, so he might not be able to see through her façade. I could though and I knew there's something else going on behind that fake smile. What it was I didn't know...

I looked back to Chihaya and raised my eyebrow as if to say, _what's going on? I know you're lying._

Chihaya smiled happily, _nothing's wrong._

I tilted my head, _you're lying. I can see right through you._

Chihaya's smile faded and she looked to the ground shaking her head ever so slightly. I could almost hear her saying, _no, not now Taichi._

I nodded and turned up the volume of my iPod to hear the last few lines if the song;

_I'm out of sight, I'm out of mind_

_I'll do it all for you in time_

_And out of all these things I've done, I will love you better now._

X X X

That night I was finally drifting off to sleep with I heard a small voice,

"Taichi?" it said.

"Chihaya?" I said sitting up groggily. My eyes immediately widened as I saw the state Chihaya was in. Her eyes were red and puffy and there were uncontrollable tears streaming down her face silently. The sight of her like this broke my heart.

"Chihaya what's wrong?" I asked astonished.

Instead of answering my question she threw herself into my arms and sobbed loudly. Her sudden action surprised me but wrapped my arms around her anyway.

"What's the matter?" I asked again. She said nothing but continued to sob into my chest. "Shh Chihaya, you'll wake Arata." But even after that she didn't stop.

I sighed "Let's go to your room," I whispered in her ear, she gave a small nod. Clearly not in the state to walk let alone stand up, I picked her up and tip toed across the room, out the door and into her room next door. Chihaya's room was right next to ours but my bed was closest her room, so we shared a wall. That's a stroke of luck; I don't think we'll wake up Arata that way. Quite frankly I didn't want him to wake up because Chihaya came to me not him for whatever reason it is.

I placed her down gently on her bed much like I did the first night we were here when she fell asleep after her Karuta game. I sat down next to her stroking her hair. It was soft, very soft, like silk in between my fingers. Her sobbing was reduced to small sniffles every once and a while, I thought it was now safe to ask-

"Chihaya, tell me what's wrong," I said quietly. Obviously she wasn't quite ready to answer that yet and burst into a fresh flow of tears. My heart twisted painfully, I didn't like hearing her cry like this. I didn't like hearing anyone cry, the sound was painful and if she's not happy how can I possibly be? I wiped the tears from her eyes to best I could but as soon as I got rid of one another came to take its place.

"It's okay," I soothed "you can tell me when you're ready."

I wondered what could have happened to have Chihaya in such distress. I was longing to help her problem but I didn't know what on earth was wrong, therefore I couldn't and it was killing me. What could it possibly be? I quietly lay down beside her and turned onto my side to look at her. Her hair was sticking to her wet, tear-stained face and her eyes were bloodshot but she still looked beautiful. I brushed the hair out of her face. I waited for a few more minutes then she spoke.

"Chitose," she managed at last

"Chitose? Your sister?" I said puzzled

She nodded feebly "S-she" she stopped wiping tears from her eyes "she's been…"

I waited until she was ready to continue. In the meantime I rubbed her shoulder. What's happened to her sister? Whatever it is it can't be good.

"She's been diagnosed with cancer!" Chihaya choked on her words and started crying once again.

I didn't say anything, I didn't ask what type of cancer or when she found out, bit I had a feeling I already knew the answer to that. It was probably the phone call she got today. I admire her for keeping her feeling so well hidden up until now. I simply lay next to her because that's what she needed right now. She didn't need anyone to console or soothe her she just needed someone to be there with her as she cried. And she'd chosen me. It must be awful for Chihaya; everyone knows how much she loves her sister and to get that news would just be absolutely devastating. Chihaya had stopped crying now but there were still noticeable tears in her eyes. We lay there peacefully for a while not uttering a single word.

"You okay now? I should probably go back to my own room now," I said breaking the silence between us. I didn't really want to go but I couldn't stay there forever, though I would've liked to. Chihaya didn't say anything in return so I assumed she was asleep. I got off the bed and just as I was about to take a step I felt something pull me back.

Chihaya's hand.

I froze. I tugged my hand back ever so slightly, but she pulled back harder. I stumbled back onto to bed.

"Chihaya what are you…?" I began

"Will you stay here with me tonight?" She said her voice soft.

Why did I hesitate in answering I don't know. Was it because I could feel my heart pounding loudly in my chest? I didn't expect this. I don't know what to say. I'm confused. She only wants me to stay because she's upset and needs someone there for her, I told myself, you may never get a chance like this again…I don't want to take advantage of her though. I'd be fine, she's just asking me as a friend so what's the harm?

Chihaya looked up expectantly waiting for an answer.

_Its fine, _I kept repeating in my head.

I smiled at her "Of course."

She smiled back.

I crawled under to covers with her, my heart racing. We laughed when we couldn't find a position to lie in but eventually we did. I lie on my back with Chihaya snuggled up to me, our feet entangled. I was aware of all the places our bodies were touching, it made my heart lose control. She felt warm. The way our bodies fit together was perfect, like we were made for each other. But that surely couldn't be true; she sees me as an older brother. In this moment I ignored that fact and enjoyed Chihaya's embrace.

I've seen all different sides of Chihaya, I've seen her extremely happy, sad, angry, determined, but tonight was the first that I'd ever seen her so upset and distressed. I love getting to see all the different side of her, they're all equally beautiful. They make me love her even more.

"Thank you," she whispered

"You're welcome," I whisper back and then added "anything for you."

"You're the best," though I couldn't see her face I could hear the smile in her voice.

My heart rate was probably over what any human could deal with, but at the same time I felt completely calm and relaxed. In this time I knew-

Only Chihaya can make me feel this way.

**Naw huggle time! I really really really want to know what you thought about this chapter. It was a bit different I guess, I was actually quite excited about writing it. I wrote the second part before the first XP I woke up really early and felt like writing that particular scene, I'd had it in mind for ages now, so then this afternoon I did the first part. I'm a very strange person I know. Btw that song was Lego House by Ed Sheeran if you were wondering (it's a great song check it out) because Taichi has great taste in music like that xP I'm begging you to let me know your thoughts on this chapter. Bai xoxo**


	4. Kisses and Donuts

**Hai hai! Welcome back to A Trip to Remember! I hope you like this chapter. I hope your liking the story so far! I hope it's not boring or anything :3 **

I could feel the light burning through my eyelids before I even opened them. I squeezed my eyes together tightly hoping to be rid of the bright light. I only then noticed the substantial amount of weight on my torso. I opened one eye lazily to see what it was and almost fell off the side of the bed when I found myself looking down at a head with lush brown hair.

Chihaya's head.

For a moment I couldn't breathe. I calmed down when I remembered what had happened last night. She'd come into my room crying about her sister and I helped comfort her, then we must have gone into her room and fallen asleep. Together. I blushed, I'm glad she wasn't awake to see my embarrassment.

I looked at Chihaya again, her hair covered majority of her face but I could still see her delicate lips breathing in and out slow and gentle. I played with her hair a little, wrapping it around my fingers. It was smooth as my fingers traced over it. I wondered what anyone would think if they saw us like this, I let myself smile a little, they'd probably think we're a couple. Not wanting to wake the sleeping Chihaya I tried to go back to sleep.

I let out a frustrated sigh, god the lights were irritating.

I was think it was about another forty five minutes later when Chihaya started to stir. She looked up at me sleepily. I saw a brief flicker of confusion pass through her eyes as she remembered what had happened.

"Good morning," I said.

"It is a good morning," she replied smiling a little "how long have you been up for?"

I hesitated, I didn't want to say almost an hour because then she might feel guilty about having kept me here.

"About ten minutes," I say.

"OK," she nuzzled her head into my chest, my heart beat quickened.

I heard a clatter from down the hall "I guess Arata's up," I raised my eyebrows sighing slightly. Chihaya laughed softly, pulling the covers of us. She stood and looked back at me

"I'm going to the bathroom I'll meet you in the kitchen or lounge." She gave me a small smile before turned on her heel, I watched her leave the room.

I turned myself over onto my stomach and stuffed my face into the pillows. They smelt like Chihaya. Eventually I dragged myself off my bed, correction; Chihaya's bed, and made my way into the kitchen. Arata was there flipping pancakes. He didn't seem to notice my presence.

"Hello," I said happily

Arata turned his head "Oh hey, I didn't see you there," he said "you seem happy."

"Really? I just think it's a lovely day today. Need any help?"

Arata craned his neck to look out the window. The sky was dull and cloudy. "Yeah, that's one way to put it. Nah I'm alright thanks, they're almost done," he answered

"Morning boys," said Chihaya as she walked into the kitchen, hair brushed and eyes bright and beautiful.

"Morning," we said in in sync.

We all sat down around the table taking pancakes and filling up our glasses with orange juice.

"So I was wondering if you guys were free today?" asked Arata "I have something in mind that you might be interested in."

"Yeah of course," I said "what else would we be doing?"

Arata shrugged.

"What are doing? Where are we going?" asked Chihaya excitedly pouring an excessive amount of syrup on her pancake and sprinkling on probably six spoons to much of sugar.

Arata smiled at her "I was thinking we could all go to an amusement park. It's only a half hour drive away."

"Yes! That sounds awesome! Let's go! Right Taichi?" she said looking at me eagerly like a child would to their parents not accepting no for an answer.

I loved amusement parks, they were great. When were younger Chihaya and I would always go to amusement parks. It'd be a fantastic place to go and if Chihaya was this pumped up about it then I can't wait. "I'm in," I grinned.

"Sweet! When do we leave?"

"Could I meet you guys outside by the car in about an hour?" said Arata

"No problem," said Chihaya with a mouthful of food.

I raised my eyebrow at her "Really?" I said "where are your manners Chihaya?"

She swallowed and pulled a face at me. I made one back while Arata looked at the two of us with a strained smile.

"You two never change," he laughed.

X X X

The sky had cleared up by the time we got there. To say this amusement park was big was an understatement. Think of the size of your average amusement park, that's still fairly large right? Well then times that by about five. That's how big this place was, complete with waterslides.

"By the Gods…" I muttered

"Whoa," I heard Chihaya breathe next to me.

"Is something wrong?" said Arata

"No, it's just" I said

"Big," Chihaya finished for me.

"Really?" he said "I never realized."

Chihaya and I exchanged excited glances and bolted through the gates leaving behind a puzzled Arata. It was so massive I thought if we didn't all stick together we'd never be able to find each other again. Chihaya and I ran through the park staring in awe at all the amazing rides just waiting to be ridden. I felt like we were back in sixth grade again, my inner child returning. Finally out of breath we slumped down on a nearby bench. A few seconds later Arata caught up to us.

"Please," He panted "never do that again."

"Sorry," we chorused, but I knew from the cheeky grin Chihaya wore that she wasn't really sorry at all. When Arata had caught his breath he said

"So what do you want to do first?"

I looked at Chihaya and instantly knew she was thinking the same thing as me. The ride we would always go on first when we were younger.

"The Giant Drop."

*after The Giant Drop*

The three of us walked slightly dazed to a bench nearby. Arata looked deathly pale while Chihaya's hair was all over the place. I didn't even want to think about what I looked like. Despite that, we burst out laughing.

"I think I almost died on there," said Arata wiping tears from his eyes.

"I honestly think I had a heart attack, but it was a good heart attack," Chihaya grinned madly.

"I forgot what these rides were like!" I laughed.

I realized that Arata was staring at Chihaya. Why? It made me feel awkward. Finally Chihaya noticed too.

"Um, is there something on my face?" she said nervously.

"No, no, it's just that your hair's a mess," he said breaking out in a grin.

Chihaya blushed furiously and turned around trying to brush her hair with her fingers. Arata also helped. I felt a wave of jealously wash over me, I know, it's stupid. I shouldn't be jealous, he's allowed to touch her for god sakes. But still…I just couldn't get rid of that feeling, it refused to go away. Once they'd successfully gotten all the knots out of Chihaya's hair they looked at each other and bit longer than I would've liked. It was me who finally broke the silence

"Are you guys hungry? I sure am," I said forcing a smile.

That caught Chihaya's attention "Yes!" she said "I heard they have great donuts here!"

"They do," Arata confirmed "we should get some."

"I'll get them, you guys stay here," I regretted my words as soon as I said them. The last thing I wanted to do was leave them alone together. Dammit, I thought to myself, they don't need supervision, well Chihaya might in case decided to run off somewhere but I don't need to worry about anything else. I hope…

"I think you'll find a stand if you go left from there," Arata pointed to a path beside us "then take another left."

"Ok, thanks man," I said and jogged my way to the stall, hesitant to leave them.

As soon as I turned the first corner I legged it the rest of the way. I didn't want to leave them any longer than I had to. I'm being ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. I purchased the donuts and walked back trying to remember Arata's directions, hoping not to get lost.

And turn…here. That's when I saw it, the thing that made my stomach drop. The thing that shattered my heart into millions of tiny pieces. Chihaya and Arata's faces were so close together their noses were touching. I could see Arata's lips moving, he was whispering something to her. I saw Chihaya say something in reply. I drew in sharp breath as their faces moved closer together.

No, no, no, no, I thought.

They kissed.

And in that instant my whole world came crashing down around me. It felt like someone had ripped out my heart and stomped on it right in front of me. I felt tears in my eyes. Why? Why did I ever fall in love with her? Why did she choose him over me? Was this the first time they had kissed? Have there been more?

The kiss finally ended. Both their faces were burning red; it was their first kiss together. Chihaya said something to him. He nodded. What did they say? 'Don't tell Taichi'? 'I love you'? 'Keep that a secret'?

Arata had once called me a coward. The worst part is that I knew he was right. Yet again I was going to choose the cowardly way out. I'd just face them as if nothing had happened, as if I'd seen nothing. I'll just keep going on as if life is okay, even though my world is crumbling to pieces. I'll just hide my feelings.

Like always.

**Poor Taichi T^T His heart is officially broken. Omg I feel so bad for making him go through all this poo :(. Who knew donuts could be such life changing foods. Please review and all that good stuff, I welcome all feedback. Anything to make my story as good as it can get. I love all of you who read my story! :* :D ;)**


	5. Truth or Lies

**Greetings readers, I am here to inform you that chapter five has now arrived. Sit back, relax and try and enjoy the story :P**

The rest of my day was miserable. I put on a fake smile for a few hours, it hurt. Emotionally and physically. When we finally got home I was so exhausted I collapsed on the couch and didn't interact with anybody. I tried to process what I'd seen today but it hurt too much to even think about it. I knew I shouldn't be this upset but I am. I fell too deeply in love with Chihaya and now here I am desperately clawing at the walls trying to get out, but each time I'd just fall down. Each time getting deeper and deeper until I can't see the light anymore. Is that what falling in love does to people? They fall so deep down that there's no light left? It seems cruel.

I slept on the couch that night. I didn't really want to be near Arata right now. Well by sleep I mean constantly waking up and not being able to go back to sleep for another hour. I had a fitful sleep.

I was woken in the morning by footsteps. I forced my eyes open and saw the source of the sound; Arata and Chihaya. But they weren't talking which was strange, I would've thought they'd be very happy and laughing together or something sick like that. In fact could almost feel an awkward tension in the air. I kept my eyes shut and pretended to be asleep to see what they'd say to each other.

"There he is," said Arata.

"What do you mean?" said Chihaya confused.

"He never came back to his bed last night," he explained.

"Ah, I see. He must be tired from yesterday." I could hear the tenderness in her voice. She knelt down beside me and stroked my hair.

Why was she doing that? Oh of course. She and Arata may be in love but that doesn't mean she can't stroke my hair and talk about me caringly and make my heart beat at a million miles a second! Gee, what's with this girl? Oh yeah, she's Chihaya.

My eyes flickered open. I saw Chihaya's chocolate brown eyes up close, very close. She flushed and pulled her head away.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" she said suddenly becoming very interested in the floor.

I didn't want to talk to her right now. Not ever. Her face just reminds me of pure betrayal. I still don't understand why they are keeping it a secret from me. I got up not wanting to be here anymore

"No, its fine," I said my voice hard and rough. Chihaya grabbed my hand, like she did when she asked me to stay with her on that night she was upset. I hesitated but only for a split second before pulling my hand back harshly and walked out of the room quickly with my head down and hair covering my face. I didn't know where my feet were taking me but I decided to trust them, after all they'd helped me run away countless other times. I ended up in the backyard. It was full of flowers this time of year. It was very pretty, it reminded me of Chihaya.

Chihaya…

What was that name to me now? I didn't know. I placed myself on an elegant bench, put my hands on the back of my head and tried to remove all feelings from my mind. Yeah, that defiantly did not work, one of my feelings actually began talking to me.

"Taichi, are you feeling alright?" Chihaya said taking a seat next to me.

I didn't reply.

"Taichi," she laughed a little, I could tell it was forced "why are you being weird?"

Weird? I looked at her in disbelief

"You think_ I'm_ the one being weird?" I said frustrated.

"Um, I didn't" she stuttered

"Chihaya I _trusted_ you," I said not able to keep my feelings at bay any longer "Why didn't you just tell me?! What made it so bad that you couldn't tell me?"

"Oh god," she said softly putting her hand on her heart "you saw didn't you? You saw us kiss."

"I did," my voice wavering.

Chihaya cursed quietly "Taichi you have to know that –" I cut her off

"Don't even try making excuses," I say my voice catching at the end of the sentence "I just want to know why you didn't tell me."

"There was nothing to tell!" Chihaya bursts.

"That's bull," I said angrily

"Taichi you don't understand,"

"Oh no, I understand perfectly," I said sourly "I'll be the third wheel its fine."

"Why are you being so immature about it?" she yells losing her composure "Get over yourself Taichi! We're not in the sixth grade anymore! Grow up for god sakes! You knew - we all knew - that someday love was bound to get in the way. It couldn't be perfect, but by you acting so childish you're just making things worse!"

I opened my mouth but no words came out. I'd never seen Chihaya yell like that before. I hurt her god dammit maybe even more than she hurt me. Of course our friendship still means something to her, we've been friends forever. How could I be so stupid as to throw that all away? But still, I thought bitterly, what's done is done.

"Well then," I scowled "I hope you're happy now. I just want you to know that I could've made you a lot happier than Arata ever will."

And with that I stormed back inside slamming the door shut after me.

X X X

I didn't want to talk. That's why I rolled over and pretended I was asleep when Arata entered the room. It was only 5:30p.m. so I highly doubt he came to go to sleep. He was here for one thing and one thing only.

To talk.

Knowing Chihaya she had probably told him about our fallout and he's come to try and resolve it for me. Call me crazy but I don't really want to talk to the guy who took away the girl I loved.

"Hey," was all he said. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't that. "Look, I understand if you don't want to talk but…" he trailed off leaving his words hanging in the air.

I remained silent. Arata didn't say anything either.

"Why did you kiss her?" I said my voice lower than a whisper.

"Taichi you've got it all wrong," he said

"Oh do I really?" I said bitterly "I think I know when I see my two best friends kissing!" I turned around to face him. He looked like he'd aged ten years in ten seconds. He was tired, I could see the bags under his eyes and lines etched into his forehead.

"She didn't kiss me ok? I kissed her! It was all me, don't blame this on her. She didn't want to kiss me. We're not together!" he said desperately.

"What?" I said confused

"Do I have to spell it out for you? I. Love. Chihaya. I confessed to her and kissed her. It wasn't her. You have to believe me. She's in her room…upset" he said carefully "She thinks you hate her."

When Arata said 'upset' I knew instantly he meant crying. I made Chihaya cry. I am a terrible person. A terrible terrible person. I felt extremely guilty.

"You know what else?" Arata continued "after we, you know kissed she said, 'I'm sorry, but my heart belongs to," he hesitated, he looked like he was having a debate with himself whether to tell me a what seemed like important piece of information

"Someone else," he said at last.

"Oh," was all I could manage, I gave him a strained smile "so, you love Chihaya eh?"

Arata turned red and looked away. "It was eating away at me I had to tell her…" he admitted "after I saw…um, I mean after I, uh," he stumbled on his words.

"What?" I frowned "Arata what are you hiding."

"Well…I woke up the other morning and saw that you weren't in your bed, I didn't think much of it at the time. I assumed you'd already woken up or gone the bathroom or something. But I didn't see you around the house at all and I became worried. I began searching for you." He said choosing his words carefully and talking slowly.

I gestured for him to go on.

"I looked for you all everywhere and couldn't find you and by then I was really concerned. There was only one place left to check," he paused "Chihaya's room."

I froze afraid of what he'd say next.

"I uh, went in and…well, found you. In Chihaya's bed sleeping with her. I felt sort of angry and upset you know? I'd asked you if you two were dating and you said no. I thought you were lying to me." He explained

"We weren't dating, that's true. But she came into our room the night before upset about-" I stopped myself. Chihaya obviously hasn't told Arata yet so I didn't think I should either "She came into our room upset. She was crying loudly and I took her into her room so she wouldn't wake you. When I was about to leave she pulled me back and asked me to stay with her for the night." saying it aloud made my heart flutter.

"So nothing actually happened?" Arata raised his eyebrow

"Oh gods no," I said quickly turning red as a tomato "Is that what you thought? No no no. Nothing happened at all."

"Oh right," Arata scratched his head "I thought it did by the way she was cuddling up to you so I decided to tell Chihaya how I felt, you know to see if I still had a chance. Which I don't. I know that now so I won't be trying anything else. I guess your friendship meant a lot to you to get that worked up about it."

"You mean our friendship meant a lot to _Chihaya_," I said sadly

"I don't follow,"

"Sure our friendship means a lot to me but…honestly I got so upset because…I love her."

"You do?"

"Yes."

"A lot?"

"Yes. Now stop going on about it you're embarrassing me." I laughed and then it suddenly hit me "You're the one who left the lights on!"

"Excuse me?"

"When you came into Chihaya's room to find me you left the god damn light on and it woke me up! I couldn't get back to sleep!"

"Sorry man," grinned Arata, he wasn't sorry. Bastard.

"Well good on you man, maybe you'll have more of a chance than me. I promise to stay away from her." He winked

"Thanks?"

"Now you might want to go speak with her…" Arata said

"Crap, I forgot! She's crying because of me!" I said racing out of the room. I stopped in front of her door taking a deep breath to calm myself. I grasped the handle and pushed it open.

"Hey"

**A bit of a cliff hanger there for ya, just 'cause I love you so much. This chapter was actually a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoyed it :) Anyways lemme know what you thought, I would really looooove to know ;) tell me what I can do to make my story better and I'll love you forever 3**


	6. Reckless

**I have school in a week… D: When schools comes around I won't be able to update as frequently. I know that's poo. So here's the next chapter, sorry that I didn't update yesterday, forgive me? But OMG my friend just got a kitten and I went and saw him today and he called the kitty Sherlock and it's a girl XD**

No answer.

I stuck my head around the door to see if she was there. She was sleeping of course. I sighed softly and walked across the room and took a seat on her bed next to her. What am I supposed to do with you? I thought. Her sleeping face was angelic, calm and peaceful as a pose to when she's awake and fired up about Karuta. I looked down at her absentmindedly stroking her long hair. I felt a little part of me die on the inside when I realized her cheeks were wet with tears. I shouldn't have spoken to her that way, I mentally hit myself. Gee, what a great friend I am. I also noticed that she'd fallen asleep with her headphones on,

"Silly girl," I murmured, gently pulling them off "you'll wreak you're ears." For no apparent reason I put them on my head

_-ould just give up, 'cause the best part is falling_

_Call it anything but love and I will_

_Make sure to keep my distance_

_Say I love you when you're not listening _

_How long can we keep this up, up, up?_

_Please don't stand so close to me, I'm having trouble breathing _

_I'm afraid of what you'll see, right now_

_I'd give you everything I am, all my broken heart beats_

_Until l know you'll understand and I will_

_Make sure to keep my distance_

_Say I love yo-_

I took off the headphones frowning ever so slightly. Was she listening to this song for a reason or just because she liked it? She had it stuck on replay. I set the headphones down on her bedside table and turned my attention back to Chihaya. I tucked her bangs behind her ear as I always do when she's asleep and considered waking her up. I decided against it, she needs rest now. I think she had a hectic day. I positioned myself so I was now lying next to her our faces only inches apart. I dared myself to wriggle closer and closer until I could feel her breathing. The temptation to kiss her right here right now was so strong I had to force myself to look away from her. My eyes slowly found their way back to Chihaya nevertheless.

My tummy did a miniature somersault as Chihaya shifted and moved her hand onto my side. The contact made my head spin. What would she think if she suddenly woke up to find me right next to her? Well I couldn't really move now that her hand was on me. Geez Taichi, what have you gotten yourself into? Yet I still relaxed and eventually found my eyes drooping. I turned, trying not to disturb Chihaya, to look at the time. 10:00p.m.?! I'd been in here longer than I thought. I was struggling to keep my eyes open. I was extremely tired; all I wanted to do was curl up in my bed and go to sleep. But being here with Chihaya was probably better, minus the fact that she has no clue I was actually here. I remembered the time and few nights ago when Chihaya had snuggled up to me intentionally, I smiled at the thought. She'd felt warm, I recalled, and I could feel her breathing on my chest. Soon enough I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and I let myself fall into a deep sleep.

X X X

I woke up but didn't open my eyes, I was too afraid of what I'd see. With any luck Chihaya would still be beside me, hopefully sleeping soundly. But I don't have any luck so highly doubt she will be. I risked a peek.

She wasn't there.

Ah crap, this must mean she woke up and saw me there. Right there. Right next to her. I cursed, what do I do when I see her? What do I say? What did she think when she saw me? Oh, the thought terrifies me. I sat up, turned around and dragged myself out the door, or at least that's what I would've done if I hadn't seen Chihaya's bare back as soon as I turned around.

"Holy hell," I said jumping back underneath the covers at the speed of light.

"Taichi?" said a clearly shocked Chihaya.

"No, no. I-I didn't see anything, I'm sorry," I said tripping over my words. I could feel the heat on my face burning under the covers.

"Oh um, I was just erm, as long as you didn't…you know," she said apparently more flustered than me.

I did know. I wasn't one to take advantage of women like that, especially not Chihaya!

"You can, uh, come out now," she said

I slowly lifted the covers off me. Chihaya had a shirt on now. Good. An awkward silence hung heavily in the air.

"I thought you were asleep!" Chihaya burst he face still red

"Well I didn't _know_ you were there," I retorted "anyway what's the big deal?"

"What do you mean what's the big deal?" she snapped "I had no shirt on! You perv."

"I am many things, but defiantly _not_ a pervert," I shot back "I didn't see anything. Just your back."

"Oh yes, sorry then that's completely fine! Good thing I had the common sense to turn around," she huffed "something you don't have."

"You're pinning this on common sense?" I said appalled "how was I supposed to know, Chihaya? How was I supposed to know that you were getting dressed?"

"What the hell are you doing in here anyway Taichi!? You almost gave me a heart attack this morning!" She folded her arms crossly.

That shut me up, it was an excellent question. What the hell _was_ I doing here?

"I'm here because," I started but stopped because I didn't have a clue what to say next. Because I love you? Yeah like I was going to say that. "I don't know why I'm here," I ended up saying.

"Then get out," Chihaya said coldly "Now."

My heart ached. She was well and truly mad at me. I've completely blown it. There was nothing else left to do but simply leave the room, and that's exactly what I did. I cursed over and over again. I am such an idiot. If only I'd just waited a few more seconds before turning around, none of this would've happened and maybe we could've tried talking. Just a few more seconds. I woke up a few seconds to early. Why do the Gods hate me? I went into the kitchen and was greeted by Arata.

"You okay?" he asked "you don't look so good."

I grunted in reply. I was not feeling good, I was feeling sad and quite furious actually.

"Breakfast?"

"Whatever," I said

"Not really an answer but I'll take it as a yes." Arata shrugged and loaded my plate with eggs and bacon. They looked delicious but I don't think I could stomach them right now.

"Actually on second thought," I said pushing my plate away from me "I'll pass."

"Suit yourself."

At that moment Chihaya entered. Oh the silence, the silence was killing me. She sat down avoiding my eyes and I did the same. She ate silently, it was all too unbearable. Arata looked back and forth between us.

"Oh," he said "yikes,"

We glared at him and he shut up. I stood us abruptly; I couldn't sit here any longer.

"I'm gonna talk a walk," I muttered, desperate to get out of here. Just to be as far away from here as I possibly can as quickly as I can "Arata can I borrow your bike?"

Arata hesitated for a moment "Yes," he said slowly "but before careful." He gave me a look saying, _I know you aren't too happy right now but don't do anything reckless._

I have him a half-hearted smile in return, _I won't._

I pushed the bike out of the shed and took off as fast as I could. I peddled faster and faster until the bike shook from side to side, but I didn't stop. Cars and trucks flew by me blowing my hair in my face wildly. I got goose bumps on my arms, they were shaking slightly. I looked up at the sky and saw clouds gradually start to block out the sun. It got very dark very fast. I kept peddling.

What's wrong with me? I asked myself over and over again. This whole thing is so messed up. What am I doing? I just want to tell Chihaya that I'm sorry, so, so, so sorry. Why can't I? Why do I have to lash out at her every time we speak? It's like we were bickering kids again expect this time it was more serious. What's wrong with me? I asked myself again.

I felt a water droplet on my hand and another one my face. Rain? This weather seems to be reflecting my mood. In no time at all it was pouring down with freezing cold rain and I didn't even have the sense to take a jacket with me. The rain fell so fast and hard that it stung. I shivered violently. But I couldn't take my mind off Chihaya.

Fighting with her is the worst. To see her that upset with me, no, to see her that _angry_ with me was heartbreaking. It crushed my soul, how could I let it come to this? For her not even to be able to look at me without being disgusted. And the worst part is that it's my entire fault, all because I was so immature about a stupid kiss that didn't even mean anything to her. The rain fell harshly on my face, I frowned, some of the drops tasted like salt.

The road was getting dangerously slippery and I was a long way from Arata's place, I heard lightning strike nearby and suddenly got a very bad feeling in my gut. I turned the bike around and almost slipped of the seat, heart beating in my throat. My shaking hands were having trouble gripping onto the handle bars, they kept slipping.

I didn't see the truck coming and it all happened at once. All of a sudden its headlights were in my face blinding me, I turned aggressively avoiding it by less than a hair. But it wasn't time to celebrate; I couldn't get the bike back under control on the wet road. My hair was all over my face limiting my vision and the next thing I knew I spun off the road with the bike. The worst part was that the road wasn't on a flat land, it was sort of raised so either side of it sloped down dramatically. I went crashing down the hill. I shut my eyes tightly, by now I'd fallen off the bike and I was rolling down the hill with the bike occasionally hitting my face. The hill was steeper than I thought, I tumbled down and down getting covered in mud and grass. I finally reached the bottom, I was barely conscious by then. I saw the bike just a few metres away from me. Stupid thing, I thought. I cringed the pain was terrible, I ached all over. I could feel myself slipping away, the rain hadn't stopped either. The Gods really do hate me, they hate me enough to take my life away from me. The pain was unbearable absolutely unbearable.

What a dumb way to die, was the last thing to run through my mind before I let myself slip away in the pouring rain.

**Wow, so tell me what you thought of this chapter. I know, I know, you did NOT see that coming did ya? It shocked you didn't it? And now, well let's face it, you hate me. Mwhahaha! You'll just have to wait to see what happens next. Mwhahahahahahahahahaha! I feel so evil! Nah, jk I love yous. That song at the beginning was Distance by Christina Perri, you have to listen to it, it's sooooo great! I like putting songs in this to idk bring out the characters feelings more? You know what they say 'Music speaks when we have nothing left to say' If you didn't notice by my name I'm crazy about music xP It's my life. Anyway REVIEW! I must know what you think! 3**


	7. A Chance to Make it Right

**I'm back! But all you want to know is what happens to Taichi don't cha? Well here it is! Btw I just wanted to thank everyone who's taking the time to read my story because I know I'm not the greatest writer so you guys support is fantastic. I love all of you so so so much. **

The constant beeping of my own heart beat gradually pulled me out of my sleepy delusional state. I had a funny taste in my mouth and my head was throbbing. I tired sitting up but the pain sent me crashing down again. I took in my surroundings. A bed, which I was laying on, and lots of medical equipment all around the place. The walls were all a stale white and there was a monitor beside me registering my heartbeat.

A hospital, I decided glumly. I don't like hospitals, they were supposed to be clean but every time I was in one I couldn't shake a certain filth off of me. Maybe it was because of all the sick people around. And now I have joined them, well I'm not exactly sick just…I wracked my brain trying to remember why I was here. Ah yes that's right, I'd lost control of the bike and went joyfully tumbling down a hill with it. I let out a deep, long sigh could things get any worse? A fight with the girl of my dreams and an accident winding me up in hospital. Stupid bad luck. In that moment of grief a nurse entered.

She smiled at me "Good to see that you're awake," she said so sweetly I could puke "How are you feeling?"

How am I feeling? Oh just fabulous, would you like to be thrown of the road down a hill in the rain on your bike? Of course you would, who wouldn't? How do you think I'm feeling?!

But out loud I said "Just fine," equally as sweet.

"Very good," she sounded like she was talking to a kindergarten kid, like I was some sort of idiot. The crash hadn't made me stupid I am still capable of human speech.

"How long have I been out?" I sighed

"Let me see," the nurse said examining her clipboard "well you were bought in yesterday morning so not too long. It's the late afternoon now."

"Bought in? Who bought me in?" I said surprised

"Oh just some girl, she said she almost ran over you and saw you steer off the road, so she went after you" she waved her hand dismissively as if this information meant nothing, stupid nurse. So it was the truck driver who came after me huh? How nice of her, considering the fact she almost squashed me like a pancake.

"Did she say her name?" I asked eager for more information.

"No," the stupid nurse said slowly probably wondering why I cared so much "but she did leave you a note."

"Where?! Can I see it?"

The nurse looked at me curiously "Sure I don't see why not, I'll go fetch it for you," she turned on her heel and marched out the door.

Who could've it possibly have been? All I know is that I'm extremely lucky to have almost been run over by that particular person and not someone who couldn't give a toss if I feel off Mount. Everest! I had all these thoughts swirling around in my mind it made my kind of dizzy. I suddenly became aware of a harsh stinging pain on my upper back, what annoyed me the most is that I couldn't see what it was. I cringed, whatever is was it hurt like crazy! The stupid nurse returned shortly holding a folded piece of paper in her hands. She handed it to me.

"Oh right!" she suddenly said, before I had a chance to open it. "There were some things I forgot to mention to you."

Of course you did, I thought tiredly.

"You had some visitors yesterday, they seemed very distressed,"

How, I thought anger boiling up inside of me, how could you forget to tell me this?

"We let them in but you were still unconscious. One of them was quite upset, the girl, she was crying onto your chest saying 'Taichi please don't die' we tried to assure her that you were quite alright but she refused to listen. She kept saying how it was all her fault, none of us could calm her down. Eventually we had to ask her to leave."

All my energy drained out of me. It had to of been Chihaya. She must be worried sick! How could I do this to her? I just keep stuffing up over and over again, making her angry, sad and worried over and over again.

"They came back this morning," the stupid nurse continued, I perked up at that "we let them in again, the girl seemed to have calmed down a bit but still cried lots. The boy seemed to try and keep his face emotionless but anyone could see the worry on his features. They went home after a while, but we promised to call them when you woke up. Your girlfriend must care a lot about you."

"S-she's not my girlfriend, just a very close friend," I said turning faintly red "so have you called them yet?" but I had a feeling I already knew the answer.

The stupid nurse hesitated "No," she finally said but before I could snap at her she said "but we were planning too as soon as I was done here."

"Right," I said settling back down "OK, anything else that you forgot to tell me." My voice sounded somewhat irritated.

"Um…" then her face light up like a light bulb. An incredibly dim light bulb. "You injuries!" she said happily

I tilted my head, she was so pleased with herself for remembering to tell me what painful injuries I had.

"Go on," I nodded my head.

"You escaped quite luckily actually,"

Did I now?

"Let's see, you have a sprained ankle,"

Oh yes, very lucky indeed.

"But that should heal quickly enough and you should be alright too walk on it just be careful. And you have a nasty gash on your upper back, probably from a fallen tree branch or something."

So that's what that pain on my back is.

"Put this ointment on it every night," the stupid nurse instructed handing me a white and brown tube.

"Will do," I said taking it.

"Every night," She said strictly

"Every night," I confirmed

"You will be able to leave around this time tomorrow," she said and with that she made way for the door,

"Don't forget to call my friends," I called after her.

"Yes, yes of course," she said hurriedly.

As soon as she left the room I set down the tube of ointment and snatched up the letter from the truck driver my curiosity taking over. It read;

_Taichi,_

_Thank your lucky Karuta cards that it was me who almost ran you over._

_I couldn't exactly leave you when I saw you roll down the hill so I went after you._

_You were in a terrible state so I bought you to the hospital. _

_Keep in mind I didn't do this for you. _

_Don't expect any more favours._

I stared dumb struck at the letter. It didn't even say who it was from! But…whoever it was they knew me, they knew my name and that I played Karuta. Well I guess I should be grateful anyway, they did kind of save my life. Keep in mind I didn't do this for you? What did they mean by that? If not for me then who? I groaned and fell back onto the pillows. Bad idea, pain spread through my back as my cut made contact with the bed. I groaned again. I closed my eyes wondering when Chihaya and Arata would get here. How far away did he live from the hospital? I guess there was nothing else to do but sleep until they came.

It felt like I was only asleep for seconds but the clock proved me wrong. A nurse walked through the door, a different one than this morning.

"You have visitors Mashima–san," she said kindly "would you like me to let them in?"

"Yes," I replied quickly

"I'll send them in," she said walking out.

I saw Chihaya and Arata walk through the door and in seconds Chihaya was in my arms. Crying might I add.

"Taichi, Taichi, Taichi," she wept

"Shh," I rubbed her back reassuringly "it's okay."

"No it's not," she said pulling away from me "You could've…You almost…" more tears ran down her face.

"Its fine, I'm here now," I coaxed

"This is all my fault," she whimpered.

I cupped her face in my hands and looked at her dead in the eye "Chihaya, it is _not_ your fault, not one tiny bit. Don't you dare blame yourself for this," I said sternly.

She didn't answer but simply gave a small nod of her head, tears still in her eyes.

"So what exactly happened?" said Arata. I looked at him for the first time, he look tired, like he didn't get any sleep last night.

"I uh, it was raining and um," I didn't know what to say honestly "I fell," I said lamely.

Arata sighed and put his hand to his forehead, "I can't believe you, I told you to be careful."

"I know, I know but how was I supposed to know that it was going to rain?" I said

"The weather channel perhaps?" he pointed out "What injuries have you got?"

"Just a sprained ankle, they said it's not too bad and I should be okay to walk on it just so long as I don't put too much pressure on it or walk too often. I've also got this bad cut on my back, it hurts more than my foot." I said

"That's not too ba-" started Arata

"That's terrible!" exclaims Chihaya

"Chihaya it's really not that bad," I said, but she didn't believe me "Hey check this out," I said pulling out the strange letter "It's from my rescuer."

"Sounds like this person knows you," said Arata examining it carefully

"That's weird," murmured Chihaya thoughtfully "I wonder who it is."

After a few minutes of rambling and crying I told Chihaya and Arata that'd I'd be back home tomorrow.

"That's good," Chihaya sniffed "I'll see you soon then."

"Yeah," I said "tomorrow will be here in no time."

X X X

I half hopped and half walked into the lounge room. I was back at Arata's again, finally, that hospital got really boring quickly. I placed myself down on the couch and pulled out the ointment that the hospital gave me and told me to apply every night. It was 9:00p.m. now. That's night enough isn't it? I pulled of my shirt in one swift movement and uncapped the tube. The gash was pretty bad, it was pretty wide but extremely deep and it still refused to scab over. It'd stopped bleeding but was still raw. I squeezed some of the ointment on my hand, it was clear and smelt funny. The cut was in the most awkward position and I couldn't seem to reach it. I tried all sorts of unnatural ways to get to it but it was literally impossible! I let out a frustrated sigh and flopped on the couch, defeated.

Chihaya walked in quietly humming to herself holding a glass of water. Her eyes landed on me.

"Taichi?" she said surprised "Why are you laying naked on the couch."

"First of all I'm not naked, I still have pants on," I said "and second of all I can't get this stupid gooey stuff on my stupid cut."

"Ah I see," she said but I could see her face was slightly red. I smiled to myself.

"What are you staring at?" I said cheekily

"Nothing!" Chihaya said turning away so I wouldn't see her now bright red face "Look do you want help or not?"

"Help?"

"Yes, with your cut," she explained "I can do it for you if you like."

I would like that, I thought . I wasn't expecting her to offer.

"Thanks," I said handing her the ointment and sitting up. Chihaya took a seat behind me putting down her glass of water.

"This might hurt it says," she said "you ready?"

"Yeah,"

I felt a searing pain on my back as Chihaya's hand made contact with my skin. I cringed letting out a small whimper much like a puppy dog.

"Are you okay?" asked Chihaya worriedly "don't worry it'll get better it says. It'll only hurt for a few more seconds."

I nodded not trusting myself to speak. Chihaya was right, the pain subsided and the ooze felt cool on my wound.

"Well now I've seen your back and you've seen mine," I said smiling lightly breaking the silence "I guess that makes us even now."

She laughed "I guess it does."

When she was done I turned around to face her. Her face still had a tinge of red to it "Chihaya I wanted to tell you how sorry I am," I said seriously.

"What, no. I'm the one who should be saying sorry," she started but I cut her off.

"No," I said "please just let me say this. I am so sorry. So, so, so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get that upset and worry you. I am a terrible excuse for a friend. Please don't hate me, just give me one more chance to make it right."

Chihaya grabbed my hand making my heart beat fast.

"Taichi," she said softly "I would never ever hate you. Never in a million years. I was stupid to let you go," she pulled me into her embrace and she whispered in my ear "This time I promise to never let you go."

I hugged her back holding her against my bare chest tightly "I won't ever give you the chance to."

**That's just the sweetest thing :') I'm so glad they made up with each other. Hmm and I wonder who that mysterious letter could be from? All in good time my lovely readers, all in good time. Please review and all that good stuff. Lemme know what you liked and didn't like, I'm open to all feedback! Cya :D**


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